Integrity check in a communication system

ABSTRACT

A method of communication between a first node and a second node for a system where a plurality of different channels is provided between said first and second node. The method comprises the step of calculating an integrity output. The integrity output is calculated from a plurality of values, some of said values being the same for said different channels. At least one of said values is arranged to comprise information relating to the identity of said channel, each channel having a different identity. After the integrity output has been calculated, Information relating to the integrity output is transmitted from one of said nodes to the other.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/314,537 filed on Dec. 22, 2005, entitled“Integrity Check In A Communication System”, which claims the benefit ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/975,410 filed on Oct. 10, 2001 andPCT Patent Application Serial No. PCT/EP01/00735 filed on Jan. 23, 2001,contents of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for checking the integrity ofcommunications between a first node and a second node. In particular,but not exclusively, the invention relates to a method for checking theintegrity of communications between a mobile station and a cellularnetwork.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Various different telecommunication networks are known. Atelecommunication network is a cellular telecommunication network,wherein the area covered by the network is divided into a plurality ofcells. Each cell is provided with a base station, which serves mobilestations in the cell associated with the base station. User equipment,such as mobile stations, thus receive signals from and transmit signalsto the base station, and thereby may communicate through the basestations. The cellular system also typically comprises a base stationcontroller controlling the operation of one or more base stations. Atleast some of the user equipment in the system may be able tocommunicate simultaneously on one or more communication channels.

Telecommunications are subject to the problem of ensuring that thereceived information is sent by an authorised sender and not by anunauthorised party who is trying to masquerade as the sender. Theproblem is especially relevant to cellular telecommunication systems,where the air interface presents an potential opportunity for anunauthorised party to eavesdrop and replace the contents of atransmission.

One solution to this problem is authentication of the communicatingparties. An authentication process aims to discover and check theidentity of both communicating parties, so that each party receivesinformation about the identity of the other party, and can trust theidentity. Authentication is typically performed in a specific procedureat the beginning of a connection. However, this procedure leaves roomfor the unauthorized manipulation, insertion, and deletion of subsequentmessages. There is a need for separate authentication of eachtransmitted message. This can be done by appending a messageauthentication code (MAC-I) to the message at the transmitting end, andchecking the message authentication code MAC-I value at the receivingend.

A message authentication code MAC-I is typically a relatively shortstring of bits, which is dependent on the message it protects and on asecret key known both by the sender and by the recipient of the message.The secret key is generated and agreed during the authenticationprocedure at the beginning of the connection. In some cases thealgorithm (that is used to calculate the message authentication codeMAC-I based on the secret key and the message) is also secret but thisis not usually the case.

The process of authentication of single messages is often calledintegrity protection. To protect the integrity of a message, thetransmitting party computes a message authentication value based on themessage to be sent and the secret key using the specified algorithm, andsends the message with the message authentication code MAC-I value. Thereceiving party recomputes a message authentication code MAC-I valuebased on the message and the secret key according to the specifiedalgorithm, and compares the received message authentication code MAC-Iand the calculated message authentication code MAC-I. If the two messageauthentication code MAC-I values match, the recipient can trust that themessage is intact and sent by the supposed party.

Integrity protection schemes can be attacked. There are two methods thatan unauthorised party can use to forge a message authentication codeMAC-I value for a modified or a new messages. The first method involvesthe obtaining of the secret key and the second method involves providingmodified or new message without knowledge of the secret key.

The secret key can be obtained by a third party in two ways:

-   -   by computing all possible keys until a key is found, which        matches with data of observed message authentication code MAC-I        pairs, or by otherwise breaking the algorithm for producing        message authentication code MAC-I values; or    -   by directly capturing a stored or transmitted secret key.

The original communicating parties can prevent a third party fromobtaining the secret key by using an algorithm that is cryptographicallystrong, by using a long enough secret key to prevent the exhaustivesearch of all keys, and by using a secure method for the transmissionand storage of secret keys.

A third party can try to disrupt messaging between the two partieswithout a secret key by guessing the correct message authentication codeMAC-I value, or by replaying some earlier message transmitted betweenthe two parties. In the latter case, the correct message authenticationcode MAC-I for the message is known from the original transmission. Thisattack can be very useful for an unauthorised third party. For instance,it may multiply the number of further actions that are favorable to theintruder. Even money transactions may be repeated this way.

Correct guessing of the message authentication code MAC-I value can beprevented by using long message authentication code MAC-I values. Themessage authentication MAC-I value should be long enough to reduce theprobability of guessing right to a sufficiently low level compared tothe benefit gained by one successful forgery. For example, using a 32bit message authentication code MAC-I value reduces the probability of acorrect guess to 1/4294967296. This is small enough for mostapplications.

Obtaining a correct message authentication code MAC-I value using thereplay attack i.e. by replaying an earlier message, can be prevented byintroducing a time varying parameter to the calculation of the messageauthentication MAC-I values. For example, a time stamp value or asequence number can be used as a further input to the messageauthentication code MAC-I algorithm in addition to the secret integritykey and the message.

In the case where a sequence of numbers are used as time varyingparameters, a mechanism is used which prevents the possibility of usingthe same sequence number more than once with the same secret key.Typically, both communicating parties keep track of the used sequencenumbers.

If there are several communication channels in use which all use thesame secret key the following problem arises. A message in onecommunication channel associated with a given sequence number, forexample n, can be repeated on another communicating channel at asuitable time, that is whenever the sequence number n is acceptable onthe other channel.

It has been proposed to apply ciphering and integrity protection in theUMTS system for the third generation standard. However the method, whichhas been proposed, permits the identical message to be sent on twodifferent signalling radio bearers at different times. This makes thesystem vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. In particular, such asystem may be vulnerable to the “replay attack” described above.

Typically, one single repeated signalling message does not give asignificant advantage to the unauthorised third party but it is possiblethat the third party could try to repeat a longer dialogue in order to,for example, set-up an additional call and, thus steal parts of aconnection.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an aim of embodiments of the present invention to address one ormore of the problems discussed previously.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided amethod of communication between a first node and a second node, aplurality of different channels being provided between said first andsecond node, said method comprising the steps of calculating anintegrity output, said integrity output being calculated from aplurality of values, some of said values being the same for saiddifferent channels, at least one of said values being arranged tocomprise information relating to the identity of said channel, eachchannel having a different identity, and transmitting informationrelating to the integrity output from one of said nodes to the other.

A separate input may be provided for said information relating to theidentity of the channel. Said information relating to the identity ofthe channel may be combined with at least one other input value. Saidinput values may comprise one or more of the following values: anintegrity key; a direction value; a fresh value; a message value and acount value. The output of the integrity algorithm may be sent from onenode to another. Said communication channels may comprise a radiobearer. Said input values may be input to an algorithm for calculationof said output.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for carrying out an integrity check for a system comprising afirst node and a second node, a plurality of communication channelsbeing provided between said first node and said second node, said methodcomprising calculating an integrity output using a plurality of values,some of said values being the same for said different channels, at leastone of said values being arranged to comprise information relating tothe identity of said channel, each channel having a different identity.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of communication between a first node and a second node, aplurality of different channels being provided between said first andsecond node, said method comprising the steps of: calculating anintegrity output using a plurality of values, one of said values beingan integrity key, each of said channels having a different integritykey; and transmitting information relating to the output of saidintegrity algorithms from one of said nodes to the other.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of communication between a first node and a second node, aplurality of different channels being provided between said first andsecond node, said method comprising: triggering an authenticationprocedure; and calculating a desired number of integrity parameters bythe authentication procedure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda node, said node for use in a system comprising a said node and afurther node, a plurality of different channels being provided betweensaid nodes, said node comprising means for calculating an integrityoutput, said integrity output being calculated from a plurality ofvalues, some of said values being the same for said different channels,at least one of said values being arranged to comprise informationrelating to the identity of said channel, each channel having adifferent identity; and means for transmitting information relating tothe integrity output from said node to said further node.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda node, said node for use in a system comprising said node and a furthernode, a plurality of different channels being provided between saidnodes, said node comprising means for calculating an integrity output,said integrity output being calculated from a plurality of values, someof said values being the same for said different channels, at least oneof said values being arranged to comprise information relating to theidentity of said channel, each channel having a different identity; andmeans for comparing information relating to the integrity outputcalculated by said node with a value calculated by the further node.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan algorithm for calculating an integrity output for use in a systemcomprising a node and a further node, a plurality of different channelsbeing provided between said nodes, said algorithm comprising means forcalculating an integrity output, said integrity output being calculatedfrom a plurality of values, some of said values being the same for saiddifferent channels, at least one of said values being arranged tocomprise information relating to the identity of said channel, eachchannel having a different identity.

Several advantages may be achieved by the embodiments of the invention.In the solution of the present invention, the replay attack may beprevented also in the case when several parallel communication channelsare used. An advantage is that the embodiments may be flexibly appliedto any system utilising parallel communication channels within oneconnection. The embodiment of the present invention may enhance usersecurity in communication systems, especially in wireless communicationsystems. The embodiments may ensure that parallel communication channelswithin a connection will never use same set of input parameters forcalculating the message authentication code MAC-I.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention and as to how thesame may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way ofexample to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows elements of a cellular network with which embodiments ofthe present invention can be used;

FIG. 2 shows the radio interface Uu protocol architecture between theuser equipment UE and Node B and between the user equipment UE and radionetwork controller RNC of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the integrity protection function;

FIG. 4 shows the integrity protection function as modified in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows the integrity protection function as modified in accordancewith a further embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows a further embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an authentication and key agreement procedure;

FIG. 8 shows generation of authentication vectors; and

FIG. 9 shows an example of user authentication function in USIM inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, a typical mobile telephone system structurewill be described. The main parts of the mobile telephone system are: acore network CN 2, a UMTS terrestrial radio access network UTRAN 4, anduser equipment UE 6. The core network CN 2 can be connected to externalnetworks 8, which can be either Circuit Switched (CS) networks 81 (e.g.PLMN, PSTN, ISDN) or Packet Switched (PS) networks 82 (e.g. theInternet). The interface between the core network CN 2 and the UMTSterrestrial radio access network UTRAN 4 is called the Iu interface, andthe interface between the UMTS terrestrial radio access network UTRAN 4and the user equipment UE 6 is called the Uu interface. As shown in FIG.1, the RNC is connected to two CN nodes (MSC/VLR and SGSN). In somenetwork topologies it may be possible that one RNC is connected to oneCN node or to more than two CN nodes.

The core network CN 2 is composed of a Home Location Register HLR 10, aMobile Services Switching Centre/Visitor Location Register MSC/VLR12, aGateway MSC GMSC 14, a Serving GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)Support Node SGSN 16 and a Gateway GPRS Support Node GGSN 18.

The UTRAN 4 is composed of radio network subsystems RNS 20 and 22. Theinterface between two radio network subsystems RNSs is called the Iurinterface. The radio network subsystems RNS 20 and 22 are composed of aradio network controller RNC 24 and one or more node Bs 26. Theinterface between the radio network controller RNC 24 and node B 26 iscalled the Iub interface.

The Radio Network Controller RNC 24 is the network element responsiblefor the control of the radio resources of UTRAN 4. The RNC 24 interfacesthe core network CN 2 (normally to one MSC 12 and one SGSN 16) and alsoterminates the Radio Resource Control RRC protocol that defines themessages and procedures between the user equipment UE 6 and UTRAN 4. TheRNC 24 logically corresponds to the base station controller of the GSM(global system for mobile communications) standard.

The main function of the Node B 26 is to perform the air interface L1processing (channel coding and interleaving, rate adaptation, spreading,etc). It also performs some basic Radio Resource Management operationsuch as the inner loop power control. It logically corresponds to theBase Transceiver Station of the GSM standard.

The user equipment UE 6 consists of two parts: the Mobile Equipment ME30 and the UMTS Subscriber Identity Module USIM 32. The mobile equipmentME is the radio terminal used for radio communication over the Uuinterface between the user equipment UE 6 and the UTRAN 4. The USIM 32is a smart card that holds the subscriber identity, performsauthentication algorithms, and stores authentication and encryption keysand some subscription information that is needed at the terminal.

With reference to FIG. 2, the radio interface protocol architectureaccording to the 3GPP specifications will be described. The protocolentities described operate between:

-   -   the user equipment UE 6 and NodeB 26        and/or    -   the user equipment UE 6 and the RNC 24.

The division of protocol layers between NodeB 26 and RNC 24 is notdescribed here further.

The radio interface protocols can be divided into a control plane 50 anda user plane 52. The control plane 50 is used for all signaling betweenthe UE 6 and the RNC 24, and also between the user equipment UE 6 andthe core network CN 2. The user plane, carries the actual user data.Some of the radio interface protocols operate only in one plane whilstsome protocols operate in both planes.

The radio interface protocols can be divided into layers, which arelayer 1 L1 54 (also called the physical layer), layer 2 L2 56 (alsocalled the data link layer) and layer 3 L3 58 (also called the networklayer). Some layers contain only one protocol whilst some layers containseveral different protocols.

The physical layer L1 54 offers services to the Medium Access Control(MAC) layer 60 via transport channels that are characterised by how andwith what characteristics the data is transferred.

The Medium Access Control (MAC) layer 60, in turn, offers services tothe radio link control RLC layer 62 by means of logical channels. Thelogical channels are characterized by what type of data is transmitted.In the medium access control MAC layer 60 the logical channels aremapped to the transport channels.

The Radio Link Control RLC 62 layer offers services to higher layers viaservice access points SAP, which describe how the radio link control RLClayer 62 handles the data packets and if for example an automatic repeatrequest (ARQ) function is used. On the control plane 50, the radio linkcontrol RLC services are used by the radio resource control RRC layer 64for signalling transport. Normally a minimum of three radio link controlRLC 62 entities are engaged to signalling transport—one transparent, oneunacknowledged and one acknowledged mode entity. On the user plane 52,the RLC services are used either by the service specific protocollayers—packet data convergence protocol PDCP 66 or broadcast multicastcontrol BMC 68—or by other higher layer user plane functions (e.g.speech codec). The RLC services are called Signalling Radio Bearers inthe control plane and Radio Bearers in the user plane for services notutilizing the PDCP or BMC protocols.

The Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) exists only for the packetswitched PS domain services (services routed via the SGSN) and its mainfunction is header compression, which means compression of redundantprotocol control information (e.g., TCP/IP and RTP/UDP/IP headers) atthe transmitting entity and decompression at the receiving entity. Theservices offered by PDCP are called Radio Bearers.

The Broadcast Multicast Control protocol (BMC) exists only for the shortmessage service SMS Cell Broadcast service, which is derived from GSM.The service offered by the BMC protocol is also called a Radio Bearer.

The RRC layer 64 offers services to higher layers (to the Non AccessStratum) via service access points. All higher layer signalling betweenthe user equipment UE 6 and the core network CN 2 (mobility management,call control, session management, etc.) is encapsulated into RRCmessages for transmission over the radio interface.

The control interfaces between the RRC 64 and all the lower layerprotocols are used by the RRC layer 64 to configure characteristics ofthe lower layer protocol entities including parameters for the physical,transport and logical channels. The same control interfaces are used bythe RRC layer 64 e.g. to command the lower layers to perform certaintypes of measurements and by the lower layers to report measurementresults and errors to the RRC.

The embodiment of the invention is described in the context of a UMTS(Universal Mobile Telecommunications System). The present invention isapplicable to all types of communication e.g. signalling, real-timeservices and non-real-time services. However, it should be appreciatedthat embodiments of the present invention are applicable to any othersystem.

In the proposal for the UMTS standard for the third generation, the SGSN16 and the user equipment UE 6, for example a mobile station have anupper layer L3 which supports mobility management MM (sometimes calledGMM) and session management SM. This upper layer also supports the shortmessage service SMS. These upper layer L3 protocols are derived from thesecond generation GPRS system. The SMS supports the mobile-originatedand mobile-terminated short message service described in the thirdgeneration specification 3GPP TS 23.040. The mobility managementfunction manages the location of the mobile station, that is attachmentof the mobile station to the network and authentication. Thus MMsupports mobility management functionality such as attach, detach,security (e.g. authentication) and routing updates. In accordance withan embodiment integrity keys may be calculated during authenticationprocedure of the MM. An exemplifying embodiment of this aspect of thepresent invention will be explained in more detail later.

The SGSN 16 and RNS 20 have a Radio Access Network Application Protocol(RANAP) layer. This protocol is used to control the Iu-interfacebearers, but it also encapsulates and carries higher-layer signalling.RANAP handles the signalling between the SGSN 16 and the RNS 20. RANAPis specified in the third generation specification 3GPP TS 25.413. Themobile station 6 and the RNS 20 both have a radio resource controlprotocol RRC which provides radio bearer control over the radiointerface, for example for the transmission of higher layer signallingmessages and SMS messages. This layer handles major part of thecommunication between the mobile station 6 and the RNC24. A RRC isspecified, for example, in the third generation specification 3GPP TS25.331

MM, SM and SMS messages are sent from the SGSN 16 to the RNS 20encapsulated into a RANAP protocol message (the message is called DirectTransfer in the 3GPP specifications). The packet is forwarded by theRANAP layer of the RNC 24 to the RRC layer of the RNC 24. The relayfunction in the RNS 20 effectively strips the RANAP headers off andforwards the payload into the RRC protocol by using an appropriateprimitive so that the RRC layer knows that this is an upper layermessage that must be forwarded to the mobile station 6. The RNC 24inserts an integrity checksum to the (RRC) message carrying the higherlayer message in payload (the RRC message is called Direct Transfer inthe 3GPP specifications). The RNC 24 may also cipher the message. Thiswill be described in more detail hereinafter. The RNS 20 forwards thepacket via the air interface to the mobile station 6.

In the mobile originated direction, the RRC layer of the mobile station6 receives the higher layer message, encapsulates it into a RRC DirectTransfer message and adds a message authentication code to it beforesending it to the RNS 20. The message is relayed from the RRC layer tothe RANAP layer of the RNS 20. The RNS 20 checks associated informationwith the message to see if the packet has been integrity checked.

The integrity check procedure will now be described. Most radio resourcecontrol RRC, mobility management MM and session management SM (as wellas other higher layer 3 protocol) information elements are consideredsensitive and must be integrity protected. Due to this, an integrityfunction may be applied on most RRC signalling messages transmittedbetween the mobile station and the RNS 20. However, those RRC messageswhich are sent before the integrity key is known may be ignored. Thisintegrity function uses an integrity algorithm with the integrity key IKto compute a message authentication code for a given message. This iscarried out in the mobile station and the RNS which both have integritykey IK and the integrity algorithm.

Reference is made to FIG. 3 which illustrates the use of the integrityalgorithm to calculate the message authentication code MAC-I.

The input parameters to the algorithm are the integrity key IK, a timeor message number dependent input COUNT-I, a random value generated bythe network FRESH, the direction bit DIRECTION and the signalling dataMESSAGE. The latter input is the message or data packet. Based on theseinput parameters, a message authentication code for data integrity(MAC-I) is calculated by the integrity algorithm UIA. This code MAC-I isthen appended to the message before sending over the air interface,either to or from the mobile station

The receiver of that code and message also computes a messageauthentication code for data integrity XMAC-I on the message receivedusing the same algorithm UIA. The algorithm UIA has the same inputs asat the sending end of the message. The codes calculated by the algorithmat the sending end (MAC-I) and at the receiving end (XMAC-I) should bethe same if the data integrity of the message is to be verified.

The input parameter COUNT-I is a value incremented by one for eachintegrity protected message. COUNT-I consists of two parts: thehyperframe number (HFN) as the most significant part and a messagesequence number as the least significant part. The initial value of thehyperframe number is sent by the mobile station to the network during aconnection set-up. At connection release, the mobile station stores thegreatest used hyperframe number from the connection and increments it byone. This value is then used as the initial HFN value for nextconnection. In this way the user is assured that no COUNT-I value isre-used (by the network) with the same integrity key for differentconnections. After an (re-) authentication procedure, when a new IK isgenerated and taken into use, the HFN value can be reset back to zero.

The input parameter FRESH protects the network against replay ofsignalling messages by the mobile station. At connection set-up thenetwork generates a random value FRESH and sends it to the user. Thevalue FRESH is subsequently used by both the network and the mobilestation throughout the duration of a single connection. This mechanismassures the network that the mobile station is not replaying any oldmessage authentication code MAC-I from previous connection.

The setting of the integrity key IK is as described herein. The key maybe changed as often as the network operator wishes. Key setting canoccur as soon as the identity of the mobile subscriber is known. The keyIK is stored in the visitor location register and transferred to theRNC, when it is needed. The key IK is also stored in the mobile stationuntil it is updated at the next authentication.

A key set identifier KSI is a number which is associated with the cipherand integrity keys derived during authentication procedure. It is storedtogether with the cipher and integrity keys in the MS and in thenetwork. The key set identifier is used to allow key re-use duringsubsequent connection set-ups. The KSI is used to verify whether the MSand the network are to use the same cipher key and integrity key.

A mechanism is provided to ensure that a particular integrity key is notused for an unlimited period of time, to avoid attacks using compromisedkeys. Authentication which generates integrity keys is not mandatory atconnection set-up.

The mobile station is arranged to trigger the generation of a new cipherkey and an integrity key if the counter reaches a maximum value set bythe operator and stored in the mobile station at the next RRC connectionrequest message sent out. This mechanism will ensure that an integritykey and cipher key cannot be reused more times than the limit set by theoperator.

It should be appreciated that there may be more than one integrityalgorithm and information is exchanged between the mobile station andthe radio network controllers defining the algorithm. It should be notedthat the same algorithm should be used by the sender and receiver ofmessages.

When a mobile station wishes to establish a connection with the network,the mobile station shall indicate to the network which version orversions of the algorithm the MS supports. This message itself must beintegrity protected and is transmitted to the RNC after theauthentication procedure is complete.

The network shall compare its integrity protection capabilities andpreferences, and any special requirements of the subscription of themobile station with those indicated by the mobile station and actaccording to the following rules:

-   -   1) If the mobile station and the network have no versions of the        algorithm in common, then the connection shall be released.    -   2) If the mobile station and the network have at least one        version of the algorithm in common, then the network shall        select one of the mutually acceptable versions of the algorithm        for use on that connection.

Integrity protection is performed by appending the messageauthentication code MAC-I to the message that is to be integrityprotected. The mobile station can append the MAC-I to messages as soonas it has received a connection specific FRESH value from the RNC.

If the value of the hyper-frame number HFN is larger or equal to themaximum value stored in the mobile station, the mobile station indicatesto the network in the RRC connection set-up that it is required toinitialise a new authentication and key agreement.

The RNC may be arranged to detect that new security parameters areneeded. This may be triggered by (repeated) failure of integrity checks(e.g. COUNT-I went out of synchronisation), or handover to a new RNCdoes not support an algorithm selected by the old RNC, etc.

A new cipher key CK is established each time an authentication procedureis executed between the mobile station and the SGSN.

The integrity key IK may be changed if there is handoff of the mobilestation from one base station to a different base station

It should be appreciated that embodiments of the invention, theintegrity check may only be commenced at any point after the connectionhas been set up as well as at attach.

It should be appreciated that with data connections, the connection maybe open for relatively long periods of time or may even be permanentlyopen.

It has been agreed that more than one signalling radio bearer, that is aradio bearer on the control plane that is a service offered by RLC, canbe established between a mobile station or other user equipment 6 andthe RNS 20. The current 3GPP specification proposes that up to foursignalling radio bearers can be provided.

In the current 3GPP specification, two or more of the signalling radiobearers SRB may have the same input parameters to the integrityalgorithm illustrated in FIG. 3. If all input parameters to theintegrity algorithm are the same then the output is the same.

This current proposal, as mentioned previously, leaves open thepossibility for an intruder or a ‘man-in-the-middle’ to repeat asignalling message from one signalling radio bearer on anothersignalling radio bearer. The COUNT-I value is specific to eachsignalling radio bearer and may be different on different signallingbearers. Consider the following scenario. A message has been sent on afirst signalling radio bearer SRB1 with a COUNT value of 77. When thecount value for a second signalling radio bearer SRB2 reaches 77, theunauthorised party can simply repeat the message sent earlier on SRB1 byusing SRB2.

Typically, one single signalling message from a signalling radio bearerrepeated in the second signalling radio bearer does not give asignificant advantage to the ‘man-in-the-middle’ but it may be possiblefor the unauthorised party to repeat also a longer dialogue in order,for example, to set-up an additional call which the ‘man-in-the-middle’can utilize and, thus, steal parts of the connection. A simpler‘repeat-attack’ case would be that the unauthorised party could e.g.repeat a dialogue carried via SMS, the dialogue being e.g. moneytransaction.

With the current third generation proposals, this problem may only arisein a limited number of circumstances. This is due to the fact that theusage of the four signalling radio bearers (SRB) is limited. Onlycertain RRC messages can be sent on certain signalling radio bearers.The “repeat attack” scenario would be possible for a Non Access Stratum(NAS) message (CM/MM/SMS etc. messages carried in RRC Direct Transfer)or a NAS message dialogue between UE and SGSN/MSC. RRC Direct Transferis a RRC message, which carries in payload all the NAS messages over theair interface. However, this problem could harm a mobile user as forexample SMS messages could be adversely affected.

There are two basic solutions to the ‘replay attack’ problem. Firstly,different communication channels using the same secret key cancoordinate the use of sequence numbers COUNT-I in such way that eachsequence number is used at most once in any of the channels. Thiscoordination may be very cumbersome or even impossible in somesituations. It should be appreciated that when the embodiments areapplied to the radio interface of the 3^(rd) generation cellular networkUMTS, the communication channels may be called radio bearers.

As will be discussed in more detail, embodiments of the presentinvention use a solution where an additional parameter is used as aninput to the calculation of the message authentication code MAC-I. Thevalue of this parameter is unique at least to each communication channelwhich uses the same secret key. The value may be unique also to allcommunication channels within one connection between the user equipmentUE 6 and RNS 20.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the problem is avoidedby ensuring that same integrity key is never used for different parallelcommunication channels.

With reference to FIG. 4, the modifications to the known integrityprotection function embodying the present invention are described. Thesemodifications do not cause any changes to the actual integrity algorithmUIA.

A communication channel specific parameter is added as input to theintegrity protection algorithm. In the 3GPP specifications, thiscommunication channel specific parameter is the radio beareridentification (RB ID). In one example of an application of the presentinvention, the radio bearer identification represents the identity ofthe signalling radio bearer in the proposed WCDMA third generationsystem and can be a number between 0 and 3. It should be noted that theused communication channel specific parameter depends on the protocollayer where the message authentication code is calculated. Still using3GPP specification as an example, if the message authentication codewould be added in the RLC protocol, the parameter would be a logicalchannel (see FIG. 2) identity. As another possible example, if theintegrity protection would be performed in the PDCP protocol layer or inthe RRC protocol layer, the additional parameter would be a radio bearer(see FIG. 2) identity. It should be appreciated that when discussing thecontrol plane part of the protocol stack, the terms signalling radiobearer identity and radio bearer identity are equivalent.

Since the identity of the signalling radio bearer is known by both thesender and the receiver, that is the user equipment UE 6 and the RNS 20,it is not necessary to send the identity information explicitly over theradio interface.

FIG. 4 illustrates the possible places where the new parameter can beincluded without modifying the integrity algorithm UIA. Since the senderand receiver are similar when looking from the input parameter viewpoint(see FIG. 3), only one side in shown in FIG. 4. It should be appreciatedthat the receive and the transmit parts will perform the same algorithm.As can be seen from FIG. 4, the preferred embodiments include the newparameter by appending it (as a string) to one or more of the existingalgorithm input parameters.

In one embodiment the signalling radio bearer identification RB IB ismade part of the input parameters FRESH or COUNT-I. This is illustratedwith numbers ‘1’ and ‘2’ in FIG. 4, respectively. In practice, the FRESHand COUNT-I parameters would incorporate both FRESH or COUNT-Iinformation and the identification information. For example if the FRESHvalue has n bits the FRESH information would be represented by a bitsand the identification information by b bits where a+b=n. This wouldmean in effect shortening the FRESH parameter. The same modification maybe made to the COUNT-I parameter. In one modification, part of thesignalling radio bearer identification may be provided by the COUNT-Iparameter and part by the FRESH parameter. However, if the COUNT-I ismade shorter it may take shorter time for it to ‘wrap around’ i.e. toreach the maximum value and come back to zero. If the FRESH parameter isshortened, it may be that the probability of repeating the value byaccident (it is randomly chosen) increases.

In a further embodiment the signalling radio bearer id is made part ofthe integrity key IK. This is illustrated with number ‘4’ in FIG. 4. Forexample if the IK value has n bits the IK information would be representby a bits and the identification information by b bits where a+b=n.However, if the key IK is shorter there is increased probability tosimply guess the key.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the identity of thesignalling radio bearer may be incorporated into the MESSAGE that is fedinto the integrity algorithm. This is illustrated with number ‘3’ inFIG. 4. Since the identity of the signalling radio bearer is known byboth the sender and the receiver, that is the mobile station and the RNS20, it is not necessary to send the identity information over the radiointerface with the actual MESSAGE. For example, if the MESSAGE has nbits the and the identity RB ID has i bits, the actual ‘MESSAGE’ thatwould be fed into the integrity algorithm would have n+i bits. Thus,instead of just the MESSAGE alone being input to the integrityalgorithm, the bit string fed into the integrity algorithm would becomesignalling radio bearer identity and the MESSAGE. This solution has noimpact on the security issues (e.g. counter lengths) related to theintegrity algorithm. This means that no parameter that is fed to thealgorithm is made shorter:

In some embodiments, it is possible to divide the identificationinformation between more than one input.

FIG. 5 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention, thisembodiment having effect to the actual integrity algorithm UIA. In thisembodiment the integrity algorithm is provided with an additionalparameter, as shown in FIG. 5. In this example, when integrityprotection is performed in the RRC protocol layer, the additionalparameter is a (signalling) radio bearer identification RB ID, which isunique to the (signalling) radio bearer. This parameter is inputseparately and is used in the calculation performed by the integrityalgorithm UIA.

FIG. 6 illustrates a further embodiment of the invention, thisembodiment having effect to the actual integrity algorithm UIA. In thisembodiment the new parameter bearer id (RB ID) is combined with theparameter DIRECTION. This embodiment would effectively make the existingi.e. ‘old’ DIRECTION parameter longer and thus have effect on the actualintegrity algorithm UIA.

In an alternative embodiment, a unique integrity key IK is produced foreach radio bearer. This may be achieved by modifying the authenticationprocedure of an upper layer L3 which supports mobility management MM andsession management SM in the proposed UMTS specifications. As wasbriefly explained above, the mobility management function manages thelocation of the mobile station, that is attachment of the mobile stationto the network and authentication. The integrity algorithm performed oneach of the signalling radio bearers during a modified authenticationprocedure may provide unique results, preventing the type of attackoutlined previously.

Reference will now be made to FIGS. 7 to 9 showing possibleauthentication and key agreement procedures. The described mechanismsachieve mutual authentication by the user and the network showingknowledge of a secret key K which is shared between and available onlyto the User Services Identity Module USIM and the Authentication CentreAuC in the user's Home Environment HE. In addition, the USIM and the HEkeep track of counters SEQ_(MS) and SEQ_(HE) respectively to supportnetwork authentication.

The procedure may be designed such that it is compatible with e.g. thecurrent GSM security architecture and facilitate migration from the GSMto the UMTS. The method is composed of a challenge/response protocolidentical to the GSM subscriber authentication and key establishmentprotocol combined with a sequence number-based one-pass protocol fornetwork authentication derived from the ISO standard ISO/IEC 9798-4.Before explaining the formation of the integrity keys, an authenticationand key agreement mechanism will be discussed. An overview of a possibleauthentication and key agreement mechanism is shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 8shows a possible procedure for the generation of authentication vectors.

Upon receipt of a request from the VLR/SGSN, the HE/AuC sends an orderedarray of n authentication vectors (the equivalent of a GSM “triplet”) tothe VLR/SGSN. Each authentication vector consists of the followingcomponents: a random number RAND, an expected response XRES, a cipherkey CK, an integrity key IK and an authentication token AUTN. Eachauthentication vector is good for one authentication and key agreementbetween the VLR/SGSN and the USIM.

When the VLR/SGSN initiates an authentication and key agreement, itselects the next authentication vector from the array and sends theparameters RAND and AUTN to the user. The USIM checks whether AUTN canbe accepted and, if so, produces a response RES which is sent back tothe VLR/SGSN. The USIM also computes CK and IK. The VLR/SGSN comparesthe received RES with XRES. If they match the VLR/SGSN considers theauthentication and key agreement exchange to be successfully completed.The established keys CK and IK will then be transferred by the USIM andthe VLR/SGSN to the entities which perform ciphering and integrityfunctions. In the proposed UMTS system, these entities may preferably besome of the radio interface protocols described in FIG. 2. The entitiesare located preferably in the User Equipment UE and in the Radio NetworkController RNC.

VLR/SGSNs can offer secure service even when HE/AuC links areunavailable by allowing them to use previously derived cipher andintegrity keys for a user so that a secure connection can still be setup without the need for an authentication and key agreement.Authentication is in that case based on a shared integrity key, by meansof data integrity protection of signalling messages.

The authenticating parties shall be the AuC of the user's HE (HE/AuC)and the USIM in the user's mobile station. The mechanism may consist ofthe following procedures:

-   -   Distribution of authentication information from the HE/AuC to        the VLR/SGSN. The VLR/SGSN is assumed to be trusted by the        user's HE to handle authentication information securely. It is        also assumed that the intra-system links between the VLR/SGSN to        the HE/AuC are adequately secure. It is further assumed that the        user trusts the HE.    -   Mutual authentication and establishment of new cipher and        integrity keys between the VLR/SGSN and the MS.    -   Distribution of authentication data from a previously visited        VLR to the newly visited VLR. It is assumed that the links        between VLR/SGSNs are adequately secure.

The purpose of the distribution of authentication data from HE to SN isto provide the VLR/SGSN with an array of fresh authentication vectorsfrom the user's HE to perform a number of user authentications. TheVLR/SGSN invokes the procedures by requesting authentication vectors tothe HE/AuC. The authentication data request shall include a useridentity. If the user is known in the VLR/SGSN by means of the IMUI, theauthentication data request shall include the IMUI. If the user isidentified by means of an encrypted permanent identity, the HLR-messagefrom which the HE can derive the IMUI may be included instead. In thatcase, this procedure and the procedure user identity request to the HLRare preferably integrated.

Upon the receipt of the authentication data request from the VLR/SGSN,the HE may have pre-computed the required number of authenticationvectors and retrieve them from the HLR database or may compute them ondemand. The HE/AuC sends an authentication response back to the VLR/SGSNthat contains an ordered array of n authentication vectors AV(1 . . .n). The HE/AuC generates a fresh sequence number SQN and anunpredictable challenge RAND. For each user the HE/AuC keeps also trackof a counter that is SQN_(HE).

The mechanisms for verifying the freshness of sequence numbers in theUSIM shall to some extent allow the out-of-order use of sequencenumbers. This is to ensure that the authentication failure rate due tosynchronisation failures is sufficiently low. This requires thecapability of the USIM to store information on past successfulauthentication events (e.g. sequence numbers or relevant parts thereof).The mechanism shall ensure that a sequence number can still be acceptedif it is among the last x=50 sequence numbers generated. This shall notpreclude that a sequence number is rejected for other reasons such as alimit on the age for time-based sequence numbers.

The same minimum number x needs to be used across the systems toguarantee that the synchronisation failure rate is sufficiently lowunder various usage scenarios, in particular simultaneous registrationin the CS- and the PS-service domains, user movement between VLRs/SGSNswhich do not exchange authentication information, super-chargednetworks.

The use of SEQHE may be specific to the method of generation sequencenumbers. An authentication and key management field AMF may be includedin the authentication token of each authentication vector.

Subsequently the following values can be computed:

-   -   a message authentication code MAC=f1_(K)(SQN∥RAND∥AMF) where f1        is a message authentication function;    -   an expected response XRES=f2_(K) (RAND) where f2 is a (possibly        truncated) message authentication function;    -   a cipher key CK=f3_(K) (RAND) where f3 is a key generating        function;    -   an integrity key IK=f4_(K) (RAND) where f4 is a key generating        function;    -   an anonymity key AK=f5_(K) (RAND) where f5 is a key generating        function or f5≡0.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, more than one IKis generated. This can be achieved, for example, by modifying the f4function such that it produces the desired number of IKs (e.g. 4: seeFIG. 9). A possibility is to specify that the f4 function must betriggered several times during the generation of an authenticationvector. This can be implemented e.g. by feeding in the second round thefirst produced IK[1] as input to the f4 function instead of a new RAND.In the third ‘round’ the IK[2] produced in the second round would be fedinto f4 function to obtain third integrity key IK[3]. A possibility isalso to input a desired number of RANDS to the function f4. Thus it ispossible to produce as many IK:s as necessary for the system inquestion. For example, in the UMTS system according to 3GPP Release'99specifications, four integrity keys would be needed.

The authentication token AUTN=SQN⊕AK∥AMF∥MAC may then be constructed.The AK is an anonymity key used to conceal the sequence number as thelatter may expose the identity and location of the user. The concealmentof the sequence number is to protect against passive attacks only. If noconcealment is needed, then f5≡0.

The purpose of the authentication and key agreement procedure is toauthenticate the user and establish a new pair of cipher and integritykeys between the VLR/SGSN and the MS. During the authentication, theuser verifies the freshness of the authentication vector that is used.The VLR/SGSN invokes the procedure by selecting the next unusedauthentication vector from the ordered array of authentication vectorsin the VLR database. The VLR/SGSN sends to the user the random challengeRAND and an authentication token for network authentication AUTN fromthe selected authentication vector. Upon receipt the user proceeds asshown in FIG. 9.

Upon receipt of RAND and AUTN the user first computes the anonymity keyAK=f5_(K) (RAND) and retrieves the sequence number SQN=(SQN⊕AK)⊕AK. Nextthe user computes XMAC=f1_(K) (SQN∥RAND∥AMF) and compares this with MACwhich is included in AUTN. If they are different, the user sends userauthentication reject back to the VLR/SGSN with an indication of thecause and the user abandons the procedure. Next the USIM verifies thatthe received sequence number SQN is in the correct range.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the USIM generatesmore than one IK instead of generating only one IK. As explained above.This can be achieved, for example, by modifying the f4 function, byspecifying that the f4 function must be triggered several times duringthe generation of an authentication vector or by input of a desirednumber of RANDs into the f4 function. This may require that the network(SN/VLR) sends the required number of RANDs and AUTNs to the UE and thatthe UE may need to produce also a RES for each RAND and return all theproduced RESs to the network, as was described above for the case of oneRAND+AUTN.

Embodiments of the present invention may be used in any system enablingnon-ciphered signalling and utilising integrity checksums in at leasttwo parallel radio bearers.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described in thecontext of a wireless cellular telecommunications network. However,alternative embodiments of the present invention may be used with anyother type of communications network wireless or otherwise. Embodimentsof the present invention may be used any form or communication whereintegrity checks or the like are provided with a plurality of radiobearers or the like in parallel.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: calculating, by aprocessor, an integrity output using a plurality of input values, atleast one of the input values comprising information relating to anidentity of a channel, each of a plurality of channels having adifferent identity, at least one of the input values being identical forthe plurality of channels, wherein the identity of the channel is aradio bearer identity.
 2. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: combining information relating to the identity of thechannel with at least one other input value, wherein the informationrelating to the identity of the channel is combined with one or more of:a fresh value, a count value, and integrity key, a direction value, anda message value.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:combining information relating to the identity of the channel with atleast one other input value, wherein the combined information comprisesa first part allocated to the identity of the bearer and a second partallocated to at least one other input value.
 4. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the radio bearer identity is a signaling radio beareridentity.
 5. An apparatus comprising: a calculator module configured tocalculate an integrity output using a plurality of input values, atleast one of the input values comprising information relating to anidentity of a channel, each of a plurality of channels having adifferent identity, at least one of the input values being identical forthe plurality of channels, wherein the identity of the channel is aradio bearer identity.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, furthercomprising: combining information relating to the identity of thechannel with at least one other input value, wherein the informationrelating to the identity of the channel is combined with one or more of:a fresh value, a count value, and integrity key, a direction value, anda message value.
 7. The apparatus according to claim 5, furthercomprising: combining information relating to the identity of thechannel with at least one other input value, wherein the combinedinformation comprises a first part allocated to the identity of thebearer and a second part allocated to at least one other input value. 8.The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the radio bearer identity isa signaling radio bearer identity.
 9. A computer program embedded on anon-transitory computer readable medium, the non-transitory computerreadable medium configured to control a processor to perform operationscomprising: calculating an integrity output using a plurality of inputvalues, at least one of the input values comprising information relatingto an identity of a channel, each of a plurality of channels having adifferent identity, at least one of the input values being identical forthe plurality of channels, wherein the identity of the channel is aradio bearer identity.
 10. The computer program embedded on computerreadable medium according to claim 9, further comprising: combininginformation relating to the identity of the channel with at least oneother input value, wherein the information relating to the identity ofthe channel is combined with one or more of: a fresh value, a countvalue, and integrity key, a direction value, and a message value. 11.The computer program embedded on computer readable medium according toclaim 9, further comprising: combining information relating to theidentity of the channel with at least one other input value, wherein thecombined information comprises a first part allocated to the identity ofthe bearer and a second part allocated to at least one other inputvalue.
 12. The computer program embedded on computer readable mediumaccording to claim 9, wherein the radio bearer identity is a signalingradio bearer identity.
 13. An apparatus comprising: at least oneprocessor; and at least one memory including computer program code, theat least one processor, the at least one memory, and the computerprogram code configured to cause the apparatus to at least: calculate anintegrity output using a plurality of input values, wherein at least oneof the input values comprising information relating to an identity of achannel, wherein each of a plurality of channels having a differentidentity, wherein at least one of the input values being identical forthe plurality of channels, and wherein the identity of the channel is aradio bearer identity.